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Transportation

Americans have always been a people on the move—on rails, roads, and waterways (for travel through the air, visit the National Air and Space Museum). In the transportation collections, railroad objects range from tools, tracks, and many train models to the massive 1401, a 280-ton locomotive built in 1926. Road vehicles include coaches, buggies, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and automobiles—from the days before the Model T to modern race cars. The accessories of travel are part of the collections, too, from streetlights, gas pumps, and traffic signals to goggles and overcoats.

In the maritime collections, more than 7,000 design plans and scores of ship models show the evolution of sailing ships and other vessels. Other items range from scrimshaw, photographs, and marine paintings to life jackets from the Titanic.

The original of this 1883 lithograph titled Rounding the Lightship was painted by Frederic S. Cozzens. It shows several racing yachts rounding a lightship being used as a mark for a race course. The exact location of the race is not known, but most contemporary races started in New York Bay, proceeded down through the Narrows to either the Sandy Hook or Scotland lightship, then returned the way they had come. Yacht racing decreased quickly in the New York area in the early 20th century, due to an increase in commercial traffic and the increasingly polluted waters. A stern view of the yacht Fanny is in the left foreground. Fanny was a large centerboard sloop, 72 feet long, 23 feet 9 inches wide and weighed 49 tons. It was designed by D.O. Richmond of Mystic, CT in 1873 and built in 1874. Its official number was 120134. The yacht was owned by W.R. Travers of New York, and it frequently participated in races in New York Bay. It frequently won because of its exceptional crew. The yacht Gracie is shown broadside in the right foreground. Gracie was a large shallow centerboard sloop, 79 feet long by 21 feet wide and weighed 49 tons. It was designed and built by Mr. Polhemus in Nyack, NY in 1868. Its official number was 10902. The yacht was owned by C.R. Flint and J.P. Earle, both of New York. It was rebuilt several times, twice to be lengthened, and once completely rebuilt and rerigged with a double headsail rig by David Carll. Gracie had more victories than any other single-masted vessel of the area. The third yacht shown is Rover, just coming into view bow-first on the right. Rover was a centerboard sloop that measured 45 feet 6 inches long by 15 feet wide. It was designed and built by Mr. Piepgrass at Greenpoint, NY in 1880, and owned by W.E. Iselin of New York. To the far right a large steamship is visible. This was most likely a spectator vessel. Behind this is a smaller steamer, apparently a tug, containing the race officials.

Frederic S. Cozzens (1846-1928) was an American marine painter famous for his large portfolio of yacht racing lithographs. He lived in Staten Island and exhibited with the Boston Art Club, the Mystic Seaport Association, and the Brooklyn Art Association.

The original of this 1883 chromolithograph titled Under the Palisades was painted by Frederic S. Cozzens. It shows two large iron-hulled yachts at anchor beside the Palisades along the Hudson River, and a smaller boat sailing in the foreground. The smaller of the two yachts is the iron screw steamer Stranger. Built in 1881 by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia, at the time the yacht was the pinnacle of yacht construction. Stranger measured 185 feet long, 23 feet wide, 9 feet 3½ inches deep and weighed 247 tons. Averaging 15 knots, its owner George Osgood of New York astounded his friends by breakfasting in Newport, RI, then sailing to New York City in time for dinner. The yacht was sold to E. S. Jaffrey by 1886, and again sold to George S. Scott. It was then purchased in 1890 by H.C. Hoagland of New York, NY for $75,000. In 1893 it was sold to George Lewis, Jr. and his wife Mary. The larger yacht is Atlanta. Built in 1883 at a cost of $250,000, also by William Cramp and Sons, this 248 foot long, 508-ton yacht was capable of speeds exceeding 20 knots with its 1,400 hp engines. It was owned by Jay Gould, a leading American railroad developer and speculator. Vastly exceeding the splendor of Stranger, Atlanta was fitted with magnificent hardwood saloons and staterooms. Underneath the hardwood floors in the staterooms were fitted porcelain bathtubs that could be filled with either heated fresh or salt water. They were accessible by means of removable floor panels, which saved the room's occupant from the inconvenience of leaving his room if he desired a bath. In a 95-mile race from Larchmont to New London, Atlanta finished 11 minutes ahead of Stranger. In 1894 the yacht was bought by George Gould for $100,000. In the foreground, the small iron screw steamer Rover sails by.

It was built in 1883 by the American Ship Company of Philadelphia, owned by Commander Henry Honychurch Gorringe, a Civil War hero who had several years before brought Cleopatra's Needle, an ancient Egyptian stone monument, to New York. Frederic S. Cozzens (1846-1928) was an American marine painter famous for his large portfolio of yacht racing lithographs. He lived in Staten Island and exhibited with the Boston Art Club, the Mystic Seaport Association, and the Brooklyn Art Association.

This chromolithograph of “Colorado Desert and Signal Mountain” was originally drawn by Charles Koppel and printed as Plate XI in the first report of volume V of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Explorations In California for Railroad Routes, to Connect with the Routes near the 35th and 32nd Parallels of North Latitude.” The volume was printed in 1856 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.

Thomas Sinclair (c.1805–1881) of Philadelphia printed this chromolithograph of “Fort Massachusetts at the Foot of the Sierra Blanca Valley of San Luis” originally drawn by R.H. Kern (1821–1853) of Philadelphia and drafted by John M. Stanley (1814–1872) of Detroit (1834–1840, 1864–1872) and Washington, D.C. (1850–1860). The illustration was printed in the “Report, by Lieutenant E. G. Beckwith, Third Artillery, upon the Route near the Thirty–Eighth and Thirty–Ninth Parallels, Explored by Captain J. W. Gunnison, Corps Topographical Engineers” of volume II of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. The volume was printed in 1855 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.

This chromolithograph of “Mirage on the Colorado Desert” was originally drawn by William P. Blake (1826–1910), the mineralogist and geologist of the expedition. It was printed as "Geology, Plate XII" in the geological report of the second part of volume V of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Routes in California, to Connect with the Routes near the Thirty–Fifth and Thirty–Second Parallels, Explored by Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, Corps of Topographical Engineers, in 1853” by William P. Blake. The volume was printed in 1857 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.

This chromolithograph of “Great Basin from the Summit of Tejon Pass” was originally drawn by William P. Blake (1826–1910), the mineralogist and geologist of the expedition. It was printed as "Geology, Plate V" in the geological report of the second part of volume V of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Routes in California, to Connect with the Routes near the Thirty–Fifth and Thirty–Second Parallels, Explored by Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, Corps of Topographical Engineers, in 1853” written by William P. Blake. The volume was printed in 1857 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.

This chromolithograph of “Los Angeles” was originally drawn by Charles Koppel. It was printed as Plate X in the first report of volume V of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Explorations in California for Railroad Routes, to Connect with the Routes near the 35th and 32nd Parallels of North Latitude by Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, Corps of Topographical Engineers.” The volume was printed in 1857 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.

This chromolithograph of “Metamorphic Rocks — Borders of the Desert” was originally drawn by William P. Blake (1826–1910), the mineralogist and geologist of the expedition. It was printed as "Geology Plate XIII" in the geological report of volume V of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Routes in California, to Connect with the Routes near the Thirty–Fifth and Thirty–Second Parallels, Explored by Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, Corps of Topographical Engineers, in 1853” by William P. Blake. The volume was printed in 1857 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.

This chromolithograph of “Mission and Plain of San Fernando” was originally drawn by Charles Koppel. It was printed as Plate VI in the geological report of volume V of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Routes in California, to Connect with the Routes near the Thirty–Fifth and Thirty–Second Parallels, Explored by Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, Corps of Topographical Engineers, in 1853” written by William P. Blake. The volume was printed in 1857 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.